Category Archives: What We’re Drinking

Bordeaux. It’s the quintessential wine region for many collectors and wine lovers. And yet, it has always seemed unattainable. The French wine landscape has never been easy to navigate and even harder to decipher. Bordeaux, however, is easier than you may think. Here are some great wines to help introduce you to the famous wine region of Bordeaux. This is not about the grand chateau or wines that need years of cellaring – this is about the everyday drinker enjoying a great bottle of wine with dinner on any given night.

Portugal has built its reputation on fortified wines and for hundreds of years, Port and Portugal have been synonymous. But too often overlooked are the still, dry wines of the country. With over 250 indigenous varieties, different climates, soils and with sustainable practices, Portugal is an untapped haven for still wines. They are incredibly food friendly, and have every price range and style imaginable.

Wine making in Portugal pre-dates the Phoenicians, Greeks, and Romans. In fact, they have been making wines for over 4,000 years. This independence and isolation has lead to indigenous grapes not found elsewhere in the world, save a couple shared with Spain (Alvarinho=albarino, and Tinto Roriz=Tempranillo).

This week we released the 9th annual Wine.com 100, a list of the top selling (by number of bottles) wines of Wine.com over the first 11 months of 2015. Most of these wines are no surprise. Meiomi was #1, Veuve Clicquot was #2… most are fairly well-known brands, or wines that made a fairly large production and are well-rated and well-loved. A few are more off the beaten path, but there are 3 that stick out to me and I credit pop culture for their rise in fame!

Perhaps I was getting too lazy and missed all of the good things going on in New Zealand wine growing regions. Yes, I’ve tasted many of the country’s top wines over the last two decades, but I did not absorb what I do now. This year is different. I was in New Zealand as a guest international judge in the Marlborough Wine Show; from second I arrived in Auckland and then onto Blenheim, the itinerary would be nonstop.